Hangman
by XII.XX
Summary: He had come so close. But, he still failed to solve the puzzle. L-centric


**Hangman**

Never had he doubted himself. He knew he was on the right track, but somehow, Kira kept getting ahead of him. He kept falling behind. And never had that happened until he was presented with that particular case. A series of mysterious deaths all concerning heart attacks. Criminals fell dead one by one. No one could explain how anyone could have done it.

Was it natural selection? Witchcraft? Some were even convinced that it was the work of a living god, punishing the wicked, bringing justice to the world. But he knew better. That so-called savior was just as wicked as the people he punished.

Human life is indispensable. Of course, there were a fair few whose lives had to be ended for the sake of others'. Was that why Kira had decided to use his otherworldly powers to dispose of all criminals? Did it mean that in order to attain a peaceful society where natural causes where the only subjects behind human deaths, all who dared try to commit crimes had to die? He didn't know.

But, due to curiosity, he decided to take up the case. It was a rare occasion when intrigue had pushed him into something he was quite reluctant in doing. He always played it safe. That's why hardly anybody knew what L, the world's greatest detective, really looked like. How he really sounded. What his motives really were.

When he first started on the case, he knew the killer was childish, if not a child. Why else had he taken the bait when a fake L had announced himself? Yes, Kira had pride. Maybe all that rubbish all over the Internet about him being an omnipotent 'god' was getting to his head. Or, maybe, he had it from the beginning, even from before he started killing off criminals. That was irrelevant. What mattered was that, from that little experiment, he had procured some information as to where Kira resided.

He got further on, beginning to feel a sense of victory, beginning to think that this case was as easy as any other. This was like a simple game of hangman. He'd been getting every letter right so far. It was easy, all too easy...and he was almost completely convinced that he had the puzzle solved.

Until he met a dead end.

He met Light Yagami.

The boy was so unsuspicious, so quick to answer, that it was almost impossible for him to be Kira. As if that wasn't enough, he was the son of the a well-respected police officer. But...this was exactly the type of person he had expected Kira to be. Expect the unexpected, he had always told himself. And so he did.

He was almost convinced that he had Kira cornered. Until Light Yagami had come forth with a half-confession. Light Yagami claimed that he was Kira. At least subconciously.

And so Light Yagami was locked up, along with Misa Amane, and his own father, who refused to even think of the possibility that his more than perfect son was, in reality, a mass murderer. How naive some people can be sometimes. A police officer should know better than to get attached.

He waited, and waited. Then, he waited some more. But the wait was in vain. Light Yagami was cleared. And he was shunned back into square one. How disappointing.

_If you can't solve the puzzle..._

But he didn't stop believing that Light Yagami was indeed Kira. Thus, the handcuffs.

Of course, he couldn't deny that after all that work Light Yagami was putting into catching Kira, it did seem unlikely that he was the person to be caught. Despite that, he still trusted his gut. Light Yagami was Kira. He just knew it. It was just simply impossible to get anyone else to believe him.

Much to his dismay, the HiguchiKira theory that everyone else in the task force had was foolproof. He couldn't bring himself to say anything against it.

_If you can't solve the puzzle..._

When the mysterious notebook of death had surfaced, he saw a new light. This could have easily been the tool Light Yagami had been using. But the last rule...it went against his unvoiced conclusions completely. The shinigami Rem hadn't been very helpful either. Not to him, anyway.

Had he been drawing the wrong conclusion from the very beginning? No, that was impossible. When you know you're right, and everything seemed to be against you, the feeling was unbearable. He was ready to put his life on the line, to write a criminal's name in clear black and white on the accursed notebook, when...

He lost.

_If you can't solve the puzzle..._

He couldn't do it. He couldn't bring Kira to justice. He had given it his all, even his life. It was all a simple puzzle. He had come so close. So close. But, still he failed to solve the puzzle...

_...then, you're nothing but a loser._

...And so he was hanged.


End file.
